Compose issue onefinalrev 6 by COMPOSE Magazine

COMPOSE C U RATI NG LOCAL ART + CULTUR E

MELVILLE

THE FIRST ISSUE

CO MP OSE

CONTENT 12

HAPPY HOUR

EXPERIENCE NOTHING

THE DEAR KILLS

LIFESTYLE

MUSIC

LOCAVORES UNITE

LIFESTYLE

HOW TO: GET PROFESSIONALLY RECORDED

MUSIC

ART BATTLE

ART

THE ALBERTAN DREAM

BOYS OF BASS

PORTFOLIO

LIFESTYLE

MUSIC

ART

COM PO SE

FROM THE PUBLISHER

I’m psyched! Working on this first issue has been a surreal experience. Sitting down to write this portion is probably the hardest thing I’ve done yet. I’m more intimidated than I should probably admit. I’m no expert by any means, and certainly no arbiter of what you should listen to, buy, wear, eat or like. I’m just a hometown girl who loves our city and the massive talent and potential it holds. I first came up with the idea of COMPOSE a couple years ago when I noticed a disconnect between the creatives in our city and their exposure to the rest of us. The talent pool in this city is massive- between musicians, artists, entrepreneurs.. You name it. There are so many people and organizations that have worked so hard to collectively build our scene to what it is today and I wanted to know more about these people. And then I wanted to take that knowledge and share it with the rest of you. Coming from a background in graphic design, photography and art, this is a project in which I get to share a bunch of insanely talented individuals with you while doing the things I love. I’m proud to be from Red Deer and even prouder of who and what hides beneath the surface here. COMPOSE is a celebration of the people, stories, and goods of Central Alberta which hopefully inspire you to get to know another side of our City. But their value is up to you. We may romanticize it. What we’re really saying is, we see worth on every level. COMPOSE isn’t just me. It’s a community collaboration of the most dedicated and talented people I will ever have the pleasure in meeting. The people who will fill the pages of this magazine are what makes the magazine and Red Deer unique. Let’s build something we’re all proud of. Stay a while, kick back and watch us grow. We’d love to have you with us on our journey. Almost everything in this magazine is local and the magazine itself is locally produced. #supportlocal If you’d like to contribute or have some exciting, rad projects you’re working on, do not hesitate to drop us a line. Our success and long-term growth comes from you, the community. We’re always looking for fresh new perspectives on the happenings in our area. Whether it’s a food review, music review, gallery review, or maybe just a piece raving or ranting about a certain thing... If you’ve got passion for it, we’re open to hear it! For inquiries on contributors, advertising and anything else: publisher@readcompose.com Come chill with us on Facebook at /readcompose : Instagram @readcompose : Twitter @readcompose We publish online too; keep up with us at readcompose.com

COM POS E

R E A DCO M P O S E . CO M # R E A DCO M P O S E

CONTRIBUTORS 1. Who are you and what do you do? 2. What did you contribute to this issue? 3. Three favourite instagram accounts you follow? 4. Three things you’re diggin’ right now?

BRENDON NEILSON

ANDREA WISEMAN

MIKE WISEMAN

1. Hey, I’m Brendon. I am just about to

1. I’m Andrea Wiseman. I manage

1. I’m Mike Wiseman. I am the broker/

finish my PhD. So the past few years

True North Realty’s marketing and

owner of True North Realty in Red

I have mainly thought about things,

communications. I’m also a seed sav-

Deer. I’m also an avid snowboarder,

read books, and wrote a very long

er, garden grower, kid wrangler, pho-

homesteader, dad, and outdoor en-

document. 2. I wrote an article about

tographer, community builder, and

thusiast. 2. I have written a small arti-

trucks. 3.

hater of non-essential things plastic

cle about why Community Supported

& disposable!

2. I have contributed

Agriculture (or CSA’s) are important

teller, filmmaker, climber), @bluejays

some images for the article written

for folks in Red Deer. 3. For my back-

(bluejays all day!) 4. Red Wine, The Sig-

by Mike Wiseman. 3. I have been cell-

country/outdoor fix I follow @sherpas-

nal with Laurie Brown on CBC Radio

phone-free for 8 months now, so I can

cinema ... for my homestead fix I follow

2. 10-midnight, the thought of brisket

no longer check or post on instagram.

@youngagrarians... and for my beer

from Red Boar Smokery.

4. I’m diggin’ spending hours at the

guy fix I follow @oldbrew75

library (downtown branch) learning

diggin’ coffee from Dose Coffee Co. (as

new skills, working for my best friend

always), meat shares from @prairie-

(Mike), and hanging out downtown in

goldmeat, and listening to Wide Cut

our new office.

Country on CKUA. I also just grabbed a

artist),

@nicely85 (amazing latte

jercollins_com (artist, story-

4. I’m

few good finds (RVCA & Brixton) from ALTA SHOP (@ALTA_SHOP).

COM PO SE

WE ’R E D I G G I N ’

COM POS E : LIFESTYLE

WE’VE COMBED THE LOCAL SCENE AND HAND PICKED A FEW THINGS WE’RE DIGGIN’

1. MEDICINE RIVER SOAP CO. These soaps and lotions are locally handmade with natural sustainable ingredients. They have a ton of awesome scents and blends for men and women to get yourself so fresh. medicineriversoapco. com 2. VEGA JEWELLERY Handcrafted quartz necklaces are the latest to hit Sunworks shelves. Each necklace is unique due to being virtually untouched from the earth. Available at Sunworks, downtown on Ross. 3. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE: LIVE AT THE MONTEREY ON VINYL Hendrix was relatively unknown until this performance at the world’s first rock and pop festival, Monterey Pop Festival. One of the earliest live recordings of The Experience makes an interesting document of the birth of a legend. Snap up a copy at The Soundhouse on Alexander Way. 4. JASON MARKK REPEL SPRAY This stuff is BAD-ASS. With the warming months ahead, Jason Markk Repel Spray is a godsend to keep your kicks shiny, new and well protected. The elements literally roll off the shoe while creating a durable, breathable barrier. Cop it at ALTA Shop, downtown on Ross. shop.alta. ca 5. CRU COLD-PRESSED JUICE Based out of Calgary, CRU Juice is raw and cold-pressed with predominantly organic, fresh non-GMO produce. Each bottle is made with 3-5 lbs of fresh veggies and fruit, and added ‘superfood’ ingredients. CRU Juice is available at DOSE Coffee Co. on Little Gaetz or at The Breathing Room on 32nd. Also at the Float Shack and PureEarth Organics. 6. ALOHA DINNER CLUB Every Thursday night at the Coconut Room Chef Terry prepares a three course meal. It costs just $40 and is a surprise menu, every time. Even better- they have mai tai table service.. Meaning they come to your table and make you a cocktail. How bomb is that! All you have to do is give them a call and tell them how many people you have in your crew and if there are any dietary restrictions or allergies (403.986.1022). 7. REEL MOVIE MONDAYS Every second Monday, the gang at the Red Deer Museum + Gallery and Carnival Cinemas brings us the best in indie films. Bonus: your ticket gets you a free item at Fratter’s before the show. Perfect lil’ date night! Keep up to date with the showings at reelmoviemondays.

HAPPY HOUR Your boss is up your ass about that spreadsheet you didn’t use a size 10 font on. There is a disturbing sound of nail clippers from the guy in the office across the hall from you. You lost 40+ hours of work via a technology fail. You’re surrounded by knuckleheads and 5:00 is still an arduous 6 hours away. “I need a drink.” Thankfully, two glorious words ‘happy’ and ‘hour’ have been taking care of people’s miseries (and joys) for decades. More than just a marketing tactic, the idea of drinking before dinner has its roots in the Prohibition era. When the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act were passed banning alcohol consumption, people would host “cocktail hours”, also known as “happy hours”, at a speakeasy before eating at restaurants where alcohol could not be served. Fast forward to almost one hundred years later and the tradition is alive and well today. We’ve put together a list of some of our favourite happy hours in the city to help you recover from that horrible day. Or good day. Whatever it was.

FRATTERS (4-7)

ONE ELEVEN GRILL (3-6)

With over 30 choices in craft beer changing monthly, Bo’s offers up craft lovers $2.00 off their daily featured craft draught.

Dubbed ‘The Hooch Hour’, Fratters has plenty of choices to drown your sorrows.

Recently voted Gold for Best Restaurant in the Golden Fork 2014 awards, One Eleven has been a go-to for fresh, upscale dining and lounging in the city. Located in the Old Brewery Building, we love that One Eleven doesn’t restrict us when it comes to choosing our poison. With an offer like 15% off all alcohol, everybody wins.

They’ve also got $4.00 highballs. Come with the munchies and a group of 6 or more and you’ll be served up with complimentary bomb ass Loaded Bo’s Chips.

$5 Pints // $15 Jugs // $5 Premium Cocktails // $5 Fratter’s Fritters // $5 Dappers // Arnold Palmer, Dapper Dan, Pimms Cup, Kir Royale, Classic Margaritas, Classic Mojito- $6 // Davey Jones + Dark & Stormy- $6

REDSTONE GRILL & WINE BAR (5-7) A relaxed atmosphere, Redstone is a perfect place to take a client from out of town after a long day of meetings or a place to meet with old friends and chill out by the fireplace in the lounge. 25% Off Wine // $5 Pints of Draught // $5 Well Highballs // $6 Cocktails

COM POS E : LIFESTYLE

BO’S BAR & GRILL (4-6)

LOCAVORE: A PERSON INTERESTED IN EATING FOOD THAT IS LOCALLY PRODUCED; NOT MOVED LONG DISTANCES TO MARKET. M IK E WISEM AN

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is quickly catching on in Central Alberta as a way to bring your veggies direct from farm to the table. For those of you that haven’t experienced the joys of receiving a basket/bag/box full of seasonal vegetables each week in the summer, you’re missing out. Costco doesn’t have this kind of experience- the kind where you can shoot the shit with your farmer and find out everything from his soil health to his favourite farming tools… to even what kind of beer he likes. A CSA basket isn’t just veggies…it’s a connection with people, farm, and food. If you’re wanting the non-hippie definition of what a CSA is, according to Wikipedia it’s this… “CSA is an alternative, locally-based economic model of agriculture and food distribution. A CSA also refers to a particular network or association of individuals who have pledged to support one or more local farms, with growers and consumers sharing the risks and benefits of food production.” HOW DOES A CSA WORK?

COM POS E : LIFESTYLE

Shareholders purchase their share in advance, which allows the farmer to purchase supplies and seeds to grow their food for the coming season. Shareholders then pick up their produce at one of two locations throughout the season.

ing it happen (in our case, Mike Kozlowski is our farmer), and we know how it’s done. There are no large pesticides swaths or chemically treated vegetable beds. Just good soil, lots of sun and water, and a little hard work. When we don’t have the option of having Steel Pony’s veggies during the winter months, we fall back into the grocery store and cringe at the fact the we have no idea where our food came from or what methods were used to make it happen. Scary thought. Being part of a CSA is better for our local economy too. When we pay our farmer, we know our money stays inside the community. HOW MUCH IS A FULL SHARE? I’m not going to sugar coat it. It’s an investment. At first it seems crazy to spend $600-$700 buckeroos on veggies… but that’s over 14 weeks (some farms have longer programs). So if you do the math that’s about $40-50 a week, or $250 a month. Did you know that the average Canadian household (4 people) spends $750 on groceries? Of course, that’s for everything… but still, when you get all the veggies you need for $50/week for 4 folks, it just makes sense. The best part for us was that I never went to the grocery store (unless it was to buy milk)… I get my eggs, grain, veggies, and meat from CSA’s… We have calculated that we spent about 1/2 of what Canadians are spending on their average groceries in a year.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CHOOSING CSA VS. GROCERY STORE BOUGHT VEGETABLES?

Here are some farms in our area that offer CSA’s:

I’m not going to get into food miles, sustainable growing methods, or local vs. organic debate… but I will say that one advantage that we really enjoy is that we know where it

Steel Pony Farm / Red Deer / www.steelpony.ca Country Thyme Farm / Central Alberta (they serve Red Deer) www.countrythyme.ca (these guys have poultry, eggs, and

comes from (we’ve visited the farm), we know who’s mak-

grain shares!)

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREA WISEMAN

“WE KNOW WHERE THE FOOD COMES FROM, WE KNOW WHO’S MAKING IT HAPPEN AND WE KNOW HOW IT’S DONE.”

CO MPO SE : LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE COM POS E :

n A T R E B L A E TH M A E DR LIFT KITS, CUSTOM EXHAUST, MASSIVE KNOBBY TIRES, RIMS WORTH MORE THAN PEACE ON EARTH, AND DECALS TO PROCLAIM YOUR LIMITED POINT OF VIEW. DREAMS ARE MADE OF SUCH THINGS.

B REN DON N EIL SON

What ever happened to the humble pick up truck… that calm and functional truck with your grandpa’s comforting smell? We have all probably had the experience of driving the QE2 when an obese 4x4 spewing black poison out of its custom exhaust passes us at a speed that is clearly unsafe. But what is behind the growing size of trucks, and why are there so many in Red Deer? What is the ideology behind this social phenomenon of the exceedingly large truck? I get that “big truck guy” makes a bunch of money in one of the many professions related to pillaging the earth of its oils. It makes sense then that through participation in that industry you feel like supporting it through consuming an excess of petroleum. I see that you want to show your peers your fine taste in vehicles and the status of your tax bracket in a visible and loud way. And I bet that owning and operating a machine that towers over all others gives you a temporary sensation of overcoming your many insecurities. But why must you make such an arrogant spectacle of it for the rest of us?

There is a number of reasons why the severely large truck has become an artifact of our time and a number of other reasons why our region is an amplified context for this phenomenon. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, and the effects of climate change are becoming more and more apparent. Is taking what you can regardless of the results becoming increasingly engrained in our social programming? Is the status quo of consume and conquer really what our people here are made of? I would like to say no. But, maybe the big truck guys are on to something the rest of us aren’t. Maybe when the world disintegrates into bedlam the ability to drive over other vehicles will be a great asset. I would like to hope that the massive truck epidemic is a temporary situation. The growing political and social pressure to live in a way that fosters a more equal thriving for both people and nature will hopefully lead to alternative options. I am optimistic that the continued development of our collective perspective will outgrow the aesthetic and ethical blemish of colossal trucks. This glimmer of hope for a new way keeps me from puncturing tires and picking fights. For now anyways. But then again maybe they are more prepared for the alternative outcome of our society.

LIFESTYLE

I don’t know if finding the answer to the ideologies behind this phenomenon will bring a lot of satisfaction, and I am not about to do an ethnographic study to really sort out the data, but I can bet the ideological underpinnings of why big trucks dominate Central Alberta are related to these beliefs:

Bigger is better. This simple axiom is embedded deep into our psyche from a young age. More is better, more is bigger, bigger is better, better is good. It makes sense, but at some point the simplistic axioms of evolutionary development have to come under critique from the knowledge we now have about the world. 2. Consumption is satisfying. This notion is deeply seated in the capitalist narrative. You are not useful to the system unless you are participating in the consumption of goods and services. The more you consume the more satisfied (and useful) you are. 3. It is normal. If this North American context is all that you know, then the existence of these trucks seems acceptable as the way things are. If you travel you quickly realize that the size of trucks elsewhere are not nearly as big and presumably work just as well for their owners to accomplish similar tasks.

COMP OSE :

The obvious disregard of parking stall boundaries and lift kits that make a collision with another vehicle much more likely to be serious are examples of how the arrogance that of the large truck manifests in the day to day. By scoffing at the relationship between form and function, these trucks sacrifice usefulness to obnoxiously proclaim their greatness. There are a few things that influence this phenomenon: • The motor industry’s need to compete in the market to create vehicles that will be constantly improving towing capacity, torque, horsepower, space and comfort, etc. • The increasing demands of industry from their trucks to be able to perform tasks that used to be reserved for specialist equipment. • The consumer’s insatiable desire for the new and the next.

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY THOMSON

EXPERIENCE NOTHING

COM POS E :

LIFESTYLE

HAVE YOU EVER DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR AN ENTIRE HOUR? I DID NOTHING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.

I was cruising around online and read some rave comments about this fairly new place called The Float Shack. I had heard about sensory deprivation tanks before and always tossed around the idea. I mean- if Joe Rogan has one in his house, it has to be cool, right? At this time, I needed a release. A healthy release. I looked a little bit further into these tanks. I was sold. It was a cold, wet day — which set the per fect mood for

introspection. Two of us arrived at the Riverlands Development Park location where we were greeted by a young blonde dapper. He showed us the way down a short hall speaking of the rooms and some simple guidelines. We arrived at to the area where the iso la tion tanks reside. It is basically a large metal cham ber, with the interior completely blacked out. There is about eleven inches of extremely salty water, which is warmed to the

exact same temperature as the human body. The dapper explained what to expect. A clean birthday suit a requirement, I took a shower in my private room. I looked to the table and found a brand new pair of wax earplugs. Nature sounds would fade in at the end to let me know that one hour had elapsed. One hour is a good ini tial base line for time, apparently. I put in my earplugs and stood before the chamber feeling slightly

intimidated. I took a deep breath and climbed into the black abyss, closing the door behind me… At first, it felt like you would expect — floating in the dark. But then I real ized how buoyant the water was — it was like what I imagine floating in space would be like. I soon realized how loud my breathing was. Once it was com pletely silent, I kind of had a “now what?” feeling. I felt tense in my neck. That’s when I realized I was holding

myself up. I released every muscle in my body in one of the single-most refresh ing instances I’ve ever had, and just really let go. Word. Now let’s get our float on! It gets a bit tricky to explain, but I will try... I first started thinking about all of the robot-like human activities — like bills, my job, chores and so on. When your brain doesn’t have any thing else to do, you do a really good job think ing about things. And anything is fair game. I had workedthrough and addressed my now seemingly-mundane human ‘problems’ in my life. Well, now what do I think about, I thought to myself. I don’t know, why don’t you think about what the f#*! you’re doing here. What do you want to do? Who are all

from days gone by, and it was like walk ing through a party where I knew everyone. Every room was a dif fer ent memory, and I could walk in and interact with it — bring it back to life. It now felt like a DJ had showed up to the party and started remix ing my brain. Memories, ideas, people, music, visual images… all started to get the mash-up treat ment, and I actu ally felt my brain using itself as its own sensory input. It felt like a bunch of people were above me, looking down. I started to feel really guilty about things, but kind of ‘as everyone’. That as humans, we aren’t using all the tools we’ve been given prop erly, and that we are letting someone down. That there

“IT FELT THAT IN ABOUT FIVE MINU TES, I HAD WORKEDTHROUGH AND ADDRESSED MY NOW SEEMINGLY-MUNDANE HUMAN ‘PROBL EMS’ IN MY LIFE.”

those people? Do they mat ter? Who are they? Who the f#*! are you, anyway?

LIFESTYLE

The nature sounds started to creep up and I started to float back into myself. I was expect ing to get that hor rible sleep-paralysis feeling when I came back, but I had never actually gone to sleep… I tried moving a finger. Mov ing one single finger a quar ter of an inch after not having a body feels indescribable. I clenched my fist, one at first, then the other, and wiggled my toes. Yep, I’m in this body again. I slowly sat up in the tank, both exhausted and

COM POS E :

It felt like my eyes were mov ing deep into my body, like my vision was start ing to come from my chest instead of my eyes. And right when I noticed myself slipping into that, I would startle back awake. It was kind of like being on sleep depri va tion at this point, but still remain ing incred i bly ener getic. I started to hear foreign music and loud, thun der ing sounds. I decided to think about memor ies and friends

is some big thing we are sup posed to do.

COM POS E :

LIFESTYLE

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FLOAT SHACK

completely rejuvenated at the same time. I pushed open the door, and as my pupils shrank back into tiny black dots, I looked around for someone. No one there. I reached for a towel, and stum bled out into the real world again. Catch ing a glimpse of my reflec tion in the mir ror on the way out had a cer tain completing-the-journey quality to it. After taking a shower to get the salt off, I walked back to the front where I was greeted with a ‘how was it?’ I tried my best not to talk about the experience for lack of words to paint it with.

After the two of us had gone in the tank for one hour each, we had completely different experiences and explana tions — but we both agreed it was one of the most surreal experience and sensation we’d ever felt. And seriously, the way you phys i cally feel after wards is like get ting a massage, doing a full work out, and getting 10 hours of sleep all at once. Like all the damage done from life’s exploring was undone. We thanked the young dude in a half comatose, endorphin ladened state. The qual ity of sleep I had that night was unrivalled, and

I was able to par tially slip back into that floating feel ing. This morn ing I woke up an hour before my alarm clock, bursting with energy to conquer my day ahead. Go do this. Until you try it, you won’t understand what I’m talk ing about. Oh, and try not to get the water near your mouth.

Originally written in October 2014.

THE FLOAT SHACK TUES- SUN, 8AM-10PM 5589-47TH ST. FACEBOOK.COM/THEFLOATSHACK THEFLOATSHACK.COM

SOUNDS WE DIG COLD SPELLS- MS. TEAZE FEAT. SUNSPARROW

Ah yes- two of some of Red Deer’s finest musical gems have teamed up to vent about that lovely little hell we call love. Sunsparrows [Erin Buhr]’s sultry voice and woodsy acoustic guitar gives way to Ms. Teazes emotionally powerful pour of when love doesn’t reciprocate. You know that pain? These girls make us feel it all over again. The deconstruction of a failed relationship and giving your all to another, this

song makes us want to pour ourselves a glass of whiskey and burn all our pictures of a love from days gone by… but in a good way. An incredibly talented collab, you should give your ears a treat and listen here...

A LBUM S W E DIG LESSER OCEANS- FENCES

handful of collaborators including Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Of Monsters and Men) and Chris Walla (the Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie). Included on Lesser Oceans is the single “Arrows,” featuring guest appearances from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Give ‘Arrows’ a taste here...

COM POSE :

MUSIC

Seattle’s Indie-rock band Fences may not be a household name just yet however the sophomore album from singer/songwriter Christopher Mansfield, aka Fences, Lesser Oceans is a rootsy, melodic, and sincere album that mounts the line between moody indie rock, hip-hop, and folk. Along with musical backing from longtime Fences member guitarist/keyboardist Benjamin Greenspan, Lesser Oceans features production from a

In days gone by Red Deer has been fortunate with the lack of cover charges in our city. I mean, anywhere you go in the bigger cities, chances are that you’ll have to pay a cover just to get one foot in the door. And there’s an even higher chance that nobody is even on the bill for the night… Red Deer is growing with kick-ass promoters and venue owners jumping on to the live music bandwagon. They continually bring us fresh things to do and new music of every genre to check out on a Friday night. We also hear a lot of grumbles about having to pay a cover charge. That’s why we’re here to help break things down and well... it’s just basic economics, kids.

These promoters and venue owners pay an artist to come to our city to play a lil’ gig for you to jig. This lil’ gig that made you jig is also required to meet the artists basic human needs of eating. Because, you know, nothing is free. So then the promoter takes care of the artist and the artist gets to pursue their passion and enrich our scene, all while going to sleep with a full belly. But hold up- the promoter needs to eat too, right? Enter the cover charge… In our humble opinion, an average of $10 is a modest price to pay for supporting an artist and our local scene. When questioning a cover charge, one should remember to think about all the factors that go into providing our city with something to actually do. By showing less support (i.e: not going because of a ‘lame ass cover charge’), one is not only hurting the artist, but the promoters/venue owners who put their nose to the grindstone to get the artist. They also do a part in slowly killing our local scene. The poorer the turn out, the less inclined an artist will want to come back; the more money the promoter loses, the sooner they go out of business and then Red Deer goes back to being a ‘there’s-nothing-to-do-tonight’ city where some culture no longer thrives. We get that sometimes even $10 is too much due to- well, you know- life. There’s the cover charge, plus drinks, plus dinner (if applicable). We totally get it. But if you’re just complaining about a cover charge, we’d kindly like to ask you to ‘check yo’ self’’ and see the bigger picture. When calculating the risk, cost, time, talent and effort of the artist and everyone else involved, $10 (or $15, etc.) is one hell of a bargain. With album sales down considerably these days, the artist relies on touring to promote themselves. Promoters and venue owners dig deep to support them while we in turn, are gifted with an excuse to get out of the

CO MP OSE :

MUSIC

house, take a load off, get drunk (or not drunk- whatever tickles your fancy!) and have fun. Next time you see an event in The Scene that you haven’t heard of, get on out there and try something new! Explore what our city has to offer! #supportlocal

GET PROFESSIONALLY RECORDED YOU CAN SING, PLAY THE GUITAR AND HAVE MAD WRITING SKILLS. NOW IT’S TIME TO GET RECORDING AND HUSTLE ON ITUNES. WE’LL TELL YOU HOW YOU CAN DO IT FOR FREE. THE COMPOSE TEAM You can play an instrument and you’ve got a voice like Lou Reed. NICE! You’ve put in hours of practice in your parents garage and have played more sing-alongs at parties than Snoop Dogg has changed his name (which, FYI, I believe has now gone back to Snoop Dogg). Everyone is asking you ‘dude- when are you going to play a show?’ . After you tell that dialogue full of self-doubt in your head to piss off, you finally work up the courage and say to yourself “hell yeah I can do this!”. Well- lucky you! So now where are you going to play? Red Deer boasts a variety of venues that offer open jam nights to the musical aficionado, however not all open mic nights in the City are the same…

vide a whole experience. We want to help people learn to jam with each other and learn to be comfortable jumping up and making music with anyone! We litter the stage with various microphones and instruments and pretty much say go nuts.”

The crew at Light Productions (Cody Bardwell, Bailey England and Levi Quartly) are doing things a bit differently around here. Their mantra is to help grow a musical community by offering high quality recordings and live show set-ups on an amateur musician budget. They believe in the people as opposed to the dinero, which is quite refreshing. Especially for those who are trying to make a name for themselves. Marketing yourself is not cheap…

HECK. YES.

Every Wednesday night, Light Productions hosts an open jam called ‘Internationals Jam Together’ at the International Beer Haus & Stage, downtown Red Deer. This jam night isn’t just your average jam night however. The crew provides a plethora of instruments (some odd ones too!), while accommodating any instruments one may bring. The stage is open for anyone to jump in at anytime and get their jam on.

“We try and help new musicians get into the jam groove, get used to performing for other people as well as get used to hearing themselves be recorded. We believe it’s an important part of developing as a growing musician.”

When speaking about the jam night, Bailey boasts “We pro-

Afraid you’ll miss out on your usual Wing Wednesday routine? Don’t worry, Internationals has your back. They have a unique variety of wings and cheap liquor deals for a little liquid courage.

Here’s another rad advantage- they pay people to play! To earn your dollars, you simply sign up to lead a song and voilà! Cold hard cash is exchanged into your hands once the deed is done. You know what else? Every artist that leads a song is given the opportunity to have their performance recorded in HD audio and video.

Well hot damn! We’ll be sure to check you out on the next cover of Rolling Stone...

COMP OSE :

MUSIC

Internationals Jam Together Every Wednesday from 8pm-1am International Beer Haus & Stage 48 Ave, Downtown www.lightproductions.ca

THE COMPOSE TEAM

THE BOYS

MELVILLE

OF BASS

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF BUZZ AROUND THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE LATELY WITH AN EVER INCREASE OF SHOWS BEING BROUGHT INTO OUR HUMBLE LITTLE CITY. WE RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH LUKE WHITTLE AND MARC GOATLEY, THE BOYS WHO RUN SYNTHETIC PRODUCTIONS AND BETTER YET- THE EDM SCENE IN RED DEER. WE PICK THEIR BRAINS TO GET TO KNOW THEM A BIT BETTER FROM LIFE AS A PROMOTER, GETTING MEDICINE FOR MADCHILDS’ DOG, AND BIG THINGS THEY’VE GOT COMING OUR WAY IN 2015. COVER PHOTO: COMPOSE MELVILLE

COMPOSE: Alright boys, let’s get started with a little background information. How did Synthetic start? Luke: I guess I’ll start with that! Synthetic started with me and Kevin Charlton throwing small shows at Slumland just for our friends. We noticed nothing was going on in the EDM scene and started doing small nights. We brought in a couple of Shambhala DJ’s and just built up from there. Marc wasn’t around for the Slumland days. We had done a few shows then Marc came in as a promoter. Marc: Yeah. The first show I did was at the International Beer Haus & Stage with Fat Pat. I came in and they gave me some tickets not knowing what was up then I sold a bunch and just hopped on from there. COMPOSE: Lets take a walk through the promoter life. Most people think it’s quite glamorous, which

promoter but... Marc: A lot of cool things, yeah, but a lot of stress. When shows aren’t going right, it can be hard to build morale up. COMPOSE: What are some pros to being a promoter? (Both laugh) Luke: Bar tabs! Marc: Meeting amazing artists that you’ve looked up to for years. Luke: Spending the time with artists, getting to know them. Learning from them... the energy and the reward and the reception after a big show is great. Its a great feeling. Knowing that we gave 1000 people an incredible experience one night for however many hours is a great feeling.

“KNOWING THAT WE GAVE 1000 PEOPLE AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE ONE NIGHT FOR HOWEVER MANY HOURS IS A GREAT FEELING.” we all know can be so far from the truth at times (big laughs all around). Describe what it’s really like being a promoter. Luke: It’s stressful! Incredibly stressful. There’s a lot of money on the line for each show. There’s a lot of people involved that need to be in the right place at the right time along with equipment. (Pauses for a minute) The risk and the gamble involved in bringing in the right artist and making a show a hit is very, very tough. Marc: There’s so many factors and angles to it.

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Luke: There is a lot of things that can go wrong that could destroy a show or there is only so many things we can do extra to make show.

Marc: It’s a year later since we started and now we’re only really figuring out the proper mix to make everything roll smoothly. Luke: There are a lot of benefits and pro’s to being a

COMPOSE: No doubt, sounds like cloud nine. What are the cons? Marc: Deadlines, agents, financials, venue owners.... Luke: Contracts, DJ’s not turning up in time, equipment issues on the day of the show, problems with sound and lighting. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong with one show. COMPOSE: What happened when the DJ didn’t show up in time? Luke: Luckily it was a group with two DJ’s. They came from New York and one of them couldn’t make it through the border so we actually only (luckily) had one of the DJ’s for the show that night. If it had been a single guy we just wouldn’t have had a show. He wouldn’t have made it into the country and we really wouldn’t have known what to do trying to find a replacement in time.

PHOTO CREDIT: MONTOGRAPHY

Marc: We had that with rappers too. We brought in Natural Ensemble and we couldn’t find him for a while. We just had a DJ play to keep it going. Luke: Rappers turning up 15 minutes before their set like.. (laughs) it’s tough. COMPOSE: What sort of challenges do you guys face while trying to promote EDM and hip hop in a relatively small,- some might even say redneck- city? Marc: Hip hop is a lot harder than EDM. EDM isn’t too bad because we’ve got the big festivals like Shambhala that are just promoting EDM so its had its ripple effect through here. There’s a lot of people in Red Deer that go to these big festivals. Hip hop is a very urban type scene which Red Deer is not very urban…

a hub whereas it should be in any other city. People go downtown to get everything they need and find out the information they want but nobody does here so it’s very hard to try and catch everyone in every corner of Red Deer with just a poster. Marketing shows in a place like Red Deer is very tough. Very tough. COMPOSE: It’s a very segregated city. Like you said, Marc, a lot of people are homebodies however I feel like it’s starting to change. There weren’t a lot of options for Red Deerians before. Marc: Yeah. It’s just about getting out there and being credible so that when Synthetic does a show, people want to come because they had fun the last show they went to.

COMPOSE: For sure. I think a lot of the issue is that some people here are sheltered, so to speak...

COMPOSE: Where do you think the music scene in Red Deer is headed?

Marc: People here seem to need to be forced to go out. It’s like- there’s this good show going on that they could go to or they could stay at home and most people rather stay home. We have this big push on our promo team to get the people out to our shows and have a great time.

Marc: (Enthusiastically with eyes wide) Big things!

COMPOSE: What inspires you on the daily to keep pushing this culture forward in Central Alberta? I can imagine that sometimes it can get frustrating just for

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Luke: One thing I find challenging is getting exposure to enough people whereas in a [larger] city you have your downtown core so it’s easier to reach them via posters and stuff like that. Red Deer is so spread out and there’s no hub. Downtown [Red Deer] is not

Luke: Big things, yeah. I think Red Deer is growing in every aspect whether it’s metal or rock, EDM or hip hop. It’s always had a scene there but it’s just really EDM and hip hop that needs someone to kind of frontier it and push it forward and really open it up to the masses.

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“IT’S A YEAR LATER SINCE WE STARTED AND NOW WE’RE ONLY REALLY FIGURING OUT THE PROPER MIX TO MAKE EVERYTHING ROLL SMOOTHLY.”

the fact that they’d rather stay at home or just don’t dig it.

Marc: He ended up hanging out with us for three days after.

Marc: We have this almost every week I think. We reach points where we’re just like ‘What are we doing?’ but then the next show happens and it‘s better than the last one.

Luke: Yeah, he stayed in town for three days. He took us out for lunch, the boys took him tanning...

COMPOSE: You guys have had the pleasure in working with some notable names in EDM and hip hop. What was it like working with Madchild of Swollen Members?

Luke: Yeah, dog medicine and we really just pampered him for two days. He hung out and really enjoyed himself with us which is great! To be able to do that with someone who is so reputable and in Red Deer of all places...

Luke: (Laughs) Nerve racking, really.

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Marc: Interesting!

Luke: From the word of mouth of Madchild being a diva and hard to work with, it kind of gave us a precedence of what to expect. He came into the venue and the hotel and didn’t like the hotel instantly. We got him a room at the Sheraton, which is probably the best hotel in town. We took him down there and got him settled then brought him back to the show and everything went smoothly.

Marc: Haircuts, got his dog some medicine...

Marc: Yeah we brought him to Slumland for an Apathy show and Apathy had no idea that Madchild was going to be there. They had never met before so we just linked them up. That was pretty cool. COMPOSE: You guys want to touch on any of your EDM shows? Marc: We were the only Canadian date for Liquid Stranger. His tour consisted of Paris, Atlanta, New Mexico then us, Red Deer! It was quite ridiculous. He’s a very

nice guy and great to work with. He played a two hour set and every song he played in his two hour set was produced by himself. Luke: Completely original! Marc: That show brought in a lot of Calgary and Edmonton people. That really helped bring awareness to the Red Deer EDM scene as being the only tour date in all of Canada. To see Red Deer, AB on his tour poster- it looked pretty amazing. Luke: One thing that I really enjoyed about the fact that we’ve been bringing in Shambhala DJ’s is when I was at Shambhala, I knew a good group of the DJ’s that was there playing so when I bumped into them or saw them at their stages during their set I could speak to them and go backstage and hang out with them. It was a great experience. Making that connection to them personally and just hanging out. We took JFB out for dinner the day after the show and showed him a few spots around town. COMPOSE: Show them how we do!

Luke: Absolutely. Alberta is a unique place so when they get to have a touch of it, they love it every time. COMPOSE: No doubt, I suppose it’s quite different from what they’re accustomed to. Luke: Yeah that’s one thing we pride ourselves with is the hospitality. When an artist or musician comes into town we want to make sure they’re happy and they get the best experience. Marc: And they talk to other DJ’s and let them know how Synthetic handled them. You treat them well and word will spread. They have to deal with so many shiesty promoters... Luke: The word from artist to artist is like gold as opposed to promoter to artist. Promoters are trying to sell the artist something whereas the artist is going to talk straight up. COMPOSE: What are some of your best memories of your shows? Luke: I would have to say Lotus [Nightclub]. Anytime we have a full house and the whole crowd is involved. At one with the music and justin the zone. To see that many people enjoy and experience what we’ve worked so hard to put together is just an incredible feeling. To stand behind the DJ and watch someone with so much skill control the crowd. They are moving at every beat the DJ puts down. COMP OSE :

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Marc: One of my most memorable moments was at Funk Hunters. We were mixing a DJ set and Dunk, one of the DJ’s from Funk Hunters, came out and started rapping three tracks on stage. It blew my mind.

PHOTO CREDITS: MONTOGRAPHY

MELVILLE

“PEOPLE HERE SEEM TO NEED TO BE FORCED TO GO OUT. IT’S LIKE- THERE’S THIS GOOD SHOW GOING ON THAT THEY COULD GO TO OR THEY COULD STAY AT HOME AND MOST PEOPLE RATHER STAY HOME.”

24 PHOTO CREDIT: MONTOGRAPHY

COMPOSE: What do you think has been the biggest contributor to the EDM movement going on today?

Luke: The mainstream exposure worldwide has been phenomenal especially with social media.

Marc & Luke: Festivals.

Marc: It’s a bit of a shame that a lot of the focus goes to the mainstream and a lot of the underground artists get stepped on. You see people like the David Guettas and the likes and people don’t really get a grasp on what a lot of the EDM and DJing actually is. A lot of our shows are the underground artists that bring back real DJ’ing; going back to the vinyl in comparison to just button pressers.

Luke: Festivals have blown up so much in the last five years I would say. EDM music -mainstream wise- has as well. One thing I want to say is that we do try and keep to the underground of the EDM side of things. We’re keeping away from the stuff on the radio. We can’t complain about the exposure EDM has gotten over the last five years because it’s helping us grow underground wise. Marc: Underground is a good fit for our city. All those big, expensive DJ’s would be a lot of risk and a lot of stress for us. Luke: Red Deer’s not ready for that. We’re still behind the big cities. As much as we want to be ahead of them, we are still behind. COMPOSE: Synthetic is known for its production value and epic sets. Who are the people behind all of that? Luke: The first person we have to mention is Rongo. Clarke. Marc: The man himself! Luke: He is the number one man army that makes the stages. He has a couple artist and carpenter friends that help out. He comes up with the designs and plans. We literally tell him the show, location, who is playing and he goes away and comes up with mad ideas and designs. His background comes from festivals; he does some staging projects for Shambhala and Astral Harvest. We just let him run with it. Very creative man. Marc: Endless props to that man. COMPOSE: What was your attendance of your first show compared to your latest? Luke: The first show we ever did was at Slumland and I’m pretty sure we sold out at 80 people capacity. The first three shows we sold out which is why we had to move up to the International Beer Haus & Stage- which was 180 people. We did three or four shows there that were either sell outs or very close so we realized we had to move up into a higher capacity venue which is when we did Swollen Members and Madchild at Wild Bills at 400 capacity. After that we went to Lotus, which is 700 capacity and we filled that up quickly. Within the next year we would like to get up to a 2000+ capacity.

COMPOSE: So how does it all compare to five years ago? I remember when I was getting into the EDM scene; it was back when Skream and Rusko were major players in dubstep- essentially pioneers. Bassnectar was just starting out and jungle was huge! We would go to illegal shows in the community centres. It was way underground and very reclusive, so to speak. Luke: Yeah coming from the UK I spent my years of being 1619 going to illegal raves and really following the EDM scene. It was completely underground where you would be shut down by police in random locations and really pushing to have our own scene because we didn’t want to go to the bars and listen to that mainstream music so we made our own scene outside of the bars in fields and warehouses all through the cities and countryside. From my point of viewfive years ago it was very, very underground and it was uncool to follow that but now it’s turned around where it’s likeif you’re not following the EDM movement then you’re just not ‘cool’. It has really changed for me. It’s backwards. COMPOSE: What was the first EDM show you guys ever went to? Marc: Fantasia in Winnipeg, Manitoba when I was 14 years old. I don’t even remember who the headliners were but I remember going in there and just being blown away by the effects and visuals. I remember Red Deer five years ago though, when people would bring in Mat the Alien and all these other artists. Back then, his biggest attendance to a show in Red Deer was 93 people. Like Bryx and Wakutt- a lot of these guys music hasn’t changed it’s just that more people are aware of it now.

Luke: Yeah, exactly! I couldn’t even try and think of my first EDM experience. It was so long ago.

Marc: The exposure of it now is just massive. The festivals that go on around North America right now are amazing. If you plan it properly, you could probably hit a festival every day from May till September and do indoor ones in the winter as well. It’s just crazy.

COMPOSE: What changes have you seen on the local scene since you guys arrived? Luke: Lots. Seeing other promotion companies really spark up and step up and start putting on shows. Pioneering our

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COMPOSE: What is your outlook on the EDM scene today and how does it compare to five years ago?

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Marc: We would love to see Synthetic in a stadium this year.

COMPOSE: My first show was Noisia in a community hall in an obscure Calgary neighbourhood that got shut down by the cops. Now you see Noisia getting set times in some big clubs. That’s how I see the scene has changed- you used to have to dig to find these shows and now they’re all mainstream.

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“TO STAND BEHIND THE DJ AND WATCH SOMEONE WITH SO MUCH SKILL CONTROL THE CROWD. THEY ARE MOVING AT EVERY BEAT THE DJ PUTS DOWN.”

sound and stages to keep up with our level of production. It’s great to see the growth and movement of the people waking up and realizing they can do it themselves and not just someone else that can do it. It’s easy enough for them to stand up and do it. Marc: There is a really good scene now. A year or two ago there wasn’t really a scene. Promotion companies would come in for a bit then die off. Nobody was really putting in the time and effort to build a scene. There is a lot of skilled people in Red Deer that, if we all put our heads together, it should be a good scene and something we’re all proud of, really.

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Luke: Of course. We’re not doing it in Red Deer to make money. We could go to Toronto or Vancouver to do it. We’re doing it in Red Deer to build culture and bring the scene here and to build something from it. COMPOSE: What is the ultimate direction for Synthetic?

Marc: We all promote each other as well.

Luke: Our main aim for 2015 is to hit up the festivals and be involved. We’re working on a few of our own tours. Really- just getting out there and branching into the music industry and being a name that’s reputable. A name where people want to work with us, where people want to come to Red Deer to deal with us and hire us with sound or production at festivals. Even expanding our full-time business; we do sound rentals, production, bookings and organizing events. Right now were getting into talent management, having our own merchandise and everything we can do in the music industry to represent Red Deer as a place that has talent.

COMPOSE: A collaborative effort…

COMPOSE: Any last words?

Marc: Absolutely. In a city this size, there’s no room for beef between people. It’s too small. There’s not a lot of fanbase to reach out to and a lot of the fans will go to a metal show and go to EDM shows. There a lot of cross between the people and the music in general so you can’t really cause beef like that. It’s just not big enough. Just a lot of love for the Red Deer scene.

Luke: We appreciate any support we can get from people that come to our shows, people that are involved- the musicians and artists. The promo guys, the stage guys and every aspect of everything we do. Being involved in the community with our charity work. It’s great to be accepted and be respected as part of Red Deer and representing Red Deer. We represent the best of Red Deer whether its art or music.

Luke: Don’t get me wrong, competition is healthy but I find that in a city this size we do need to work together whether we are from different genres or the same genre, we need to come together so were not screwing each other out of anything.

Marc: Yeah, thanks to everybody whether you bought a ticket or … the academy, I’d like to thank the academy (everyone laughs). But yeah- anyone who has bought a ticket or said hello or even a high five- anything at all, thank you! F*CK

Luke: We work alongside all the other promoters from metal promoters, hip hop promoters, EDM promoters and we work alongside all the different venue owners to try and build a community of promoters in the music industry and this town.

Me: Yeah, it’s building that culture and everyone has their own part of it.

PHOTO CREDIT: MONTOGRAPHY

YEAH TO 2015! (We all cheers). COMPOSE: Is dupstep dead? Marc: No, it has just quieted down for the time being; went back to its natural habitat. Luke: I have a very close connection with it because it comes from reggae dubs and two steps which come from garage which is a UK grimey underground scene, so I grew up with grime and grew up with reggae so to see the two things come together as dubstep for me is a great unity of music. I feel that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very much alive as it was when it became mainstream even though itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not being noticed as much it still has an influence in movies, TV and documentaries. The new music today is based off the dubstep genre that is considered mainstream, if you will. COM POS E : MUSIC

To stay up to date with Synthetic events, check out Synthetic on Facebook here:

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T h e D ear K ills

PHOTO CREDIT: ERIN BUHR

SEXY. GRITTY. AND COOL DRIPPING’ OUT OF EVERY PORE... FORMERLY KNOWN AS FOXJAW, THE DEAR KILLS MESH THEIR INFLUENCES IN POP, HARD ROCK AND INDIE/FOLK TO CREATE A SOUND OF THEIR OWN. I SAT DOWN WITH THEM IN THEIR STUDIO AND CHATTED ABOUT THEIR NEW EP, BEING POSSESSED AND BOOTY SHAKING.

THE COMPOSE TEAM

COMPOSE: We’ve all been looking forward to an album of some sort from you guys for some time now. Tell us a bit about it your debut EP Dirty Nasty. Becca: Well, it’s five songs A couple are pretty old that we first started with and then there’s maybe like one newer one. We named it Dirty Nasty because its one of our favourite singles off the EP. We wanted it to describe our sound also. Erin: Yeah. If we could sum up our sound in one track it would be Dirty Nasty so we wanted our first EP to really channel that. Greg: It’s gritty. It’s rock. It’s sexy. It kicks ass. COMPOSE: I see that you worked with local producer Rory Burnett on this EP. How did that go? Erin: Working with Rory was amazing.

Erin: Yeah and just the sound we got out of it was exactly what we wanted anyway so we couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out and he did an incredible job on it. Greg: I’m really stoked that we recorded drums at The Vat early in the morning. That’s like my favourite place in the world so… That big room gives the drums a really natural reverb sound so the drums definitely have a really big sound. It was really awesome to record that. COMPOSE: How long did the recording process take from scratch? Becca: It’s been a year. We’ve only been a band for about a year and we’ve just been writing songs along the way and building our repertoire I guess. Erin: From the time we first tracked drums it must’ve tak-

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Erin: There was no pressure of working in a really big studio and worrying about messing up. We were in his house, we were comfortable with recording there, we could make awk-

Becca: Yeah and we weren’t rushed at all and we took our time with it. It ends up going faster that way just because you weren’t scared to mess up because he’s such a cool guy. Super chill.

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Becca: He’s one of our friends so it was really comfortable and really just- it felt like that’s who we should do it with. I think it was just like, no real thought was put into it.

ward jokes and ..

en at least a few months to get done (everyone agrees).

Just finding a time that worked with all of our schedules and from there I’d say a few months to get it all completely done. Once it was recorded it was really quick. Rory was speedy with it but it was just getting all of us together where everyone is so busy it’s kind of hard to make it happen. COMPOSE: What is the writing process like for you guys? Becca: We both write songs on our own then bring it to jam or like- we’ll just come here [to the studio] and have an idea and just write from there. There’s no really set method (laughs). We’re just kind of like ‘this is cool’. Erin: Yeah. Seems like Becca will come up with a gnarly bass line and brings it to jam then we all just kind of add to it. I feel like a lot of things come from Becca’s bass. She comes up with a really catchy bass riff we can build so much with it. COMPOSE: Tell me about Black Magic, your first single off the EP. Becca: Well, there’s lots of things I want to say about it but I’m not going to… or what it’s about.. (the girls laugh) I wrote it thinking about somebody that just has a lot of like, kind of influence over you. That’s just -

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Erin: Someone that kind of has

a spell over you. Like possessive power that you can’t really control. COMPOSE: What are some of the most refreshing things about making music?

mood it’s really good to write that into a song and take that into a song. If you just have all this emotion it’s just such a good release to get it out there however you’re feeling. It’s the coolest way to put it out there.

Greg: (With a bright big smile) Seeing girls dancing. People are rocking, hands up, shaking booty.

COMPOSE: What or who influences your sound in terms of people or musicians.

“I’M REALLY STOKED THAT WE RECORDED DRUMS AT THE VAT EARLY IN THE MORNING. THAT’S LIKE MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WORLD.” Erin: Two words: booty shaking. Greg: Booty blast! Becca: Just growing a lot. It’s fun just to see how much everyone can get better and it’s super exciting when we come up with something. Erin: We get stoked. It seems like every jam we progress more and more and we are aware of it and that’s the greatest feeling. Just getting so much better at your craft. When you’re in a certain

Erin: Well a few bands that we would be influenced by would be The White Stripes, Wolfmother, Priestess.. Becca: Death from Above 1979. Greg: I like that we have that rock, heavy edge to it but its still dancy and groovy so... There’s like metal influences here, alt influences here.. A little bit of everything. Becca: Yeah Greg was in a metal band so we have that kind of element on the drums. He’s just awesome. Erin is just straight rock and then bass is like rocky, dancy so when it comes together it’s just the coolest mix of music. COMPOSE: How does the evolution of your sound reflect on you as a person? Erin: Well for me, I used to play really quiet, chill acoustic music and just kind of hide behind my guitar but learning electric guitar and being inspired to play really loud

ballsy music has helped me evolved so much as a person. I used to be the most shy human on the planet but ever since I started playing loud rock guitar it just has changed me entirely like I’m definitely a more confident person and outgoing. I’m not scared to talk to people anymore, even when we’re rocking out on stage I don’t really give a shit about making a fool of myself anymore. It’s just more about the music now which is really great. I used to overthink everything and now we just kind of go with it.

we haven’t done and how it will add to our sound and that’s always been really cool. I never want to be seen as ‘oh this guy only plays this style’ or ‘oh, he’s a metal guy’ you know what I mean? I never want to be known as that so I’ll always be trying new stuff. If it adds to the sound, it’s cool. Erin: The fact that we’re all playing new genre’s now too helps us grow so much as musicians. Nothing challenges you more than playing a genre that you’re not comfortable with.

my opinion. I just can’t wait to jam them on stage. I’m proud of the album. It’s cool to run into people and they’re like ‘oh you play local music? You heard of The Dear Kills?’ (Everyone laughs). I’m just like ‘oh yeah I heard they’re pretty awesome!’ Erin: We get that a lot actually. People don’t know we’re in it but.. Even seeing our tank tops everywhere is really cool too. People that we don’t know have bought them.

“TWO WORDS: BOOTY SHAKING.” Becca: Me too. I used to play music just to, kind of make other people happy and I wrote stuff that I didn’t like and I hated- HATEDeverything, well not everything I did but… It’s just that there was always something else I wanted to do instead. So yeah it wasn’t fun and now it’s like being more confident and just doing what you want to do is really cool. As people too- you get more comfortable with real life and not just in music. COMPOSE: (I look to Greg) Anything you want to touch on with your drumming evolution?

Becca: We’re really excited about our EP release show... Greg: It’s going to be hot! Erin: March 7th at Bo’s Bar and Grill. It’s going to be dirty and nasty. There’s a couple really amazing bands on the bill. It’s going to be a big, high energy bill. We’re going to be wearing some ridiculous clothing… We just want everyone to channel their inner dirty nasty. Greg: I’m just stoked on the inertia of this band. We’re a pretty young band but it seems like we’re just always picking up steam. Our new jams are just the coolest songs in

Greg: Even in Edmonton and Calgary, if people haven’t heard a lot of our songs or something, they’re like ‘oh I heard this good stuff about this band from Red Deer.. they’re a three piece, I don’t know a lot about them’. It’s pretty cool. Badass guys, bad frickin’’ ass. You can purchase Dirty Nasty at any of their live shows and it will be available on iTunes. Stay tuned to their facebook page @ /thedearkills to stay in touch and give Black Magic a listen here:

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Greg: Always just doing new, uncharted territories. Always expanding our musical horizons. We always talk about new stuff that

Becca: It’s the weirdest thing. COMPOSE: Is there anything else you guys want to touch on?

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ART

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MIKE BEST

T BATTLE ART BATTLE IS LIVE COMPETITIVE PAINTING WHERE PAINTERS CREATE THE BEST WORK THEY CAN IN 20 MINUTES. WHEN THE 2O MINUTES IS UP, THE AUDIENCE VOTES FOR THEIR FAVOURITE PAINTING AND BIDS IN SILENT AUCTION TO TAKE THE WORK HOME. WE WERE ABLE TO CATCH UP WITH HEIDI HASTINGS AND MIKE BEST, ORGANIZERS OF ART BATTLE RED DEER VIA E-MAIL TO ASK THEM A BIT ON THIS BRILLIANT EVENT THAT IS TAKING OVER THE NATION. COMPOSE: Tell me how you got involved with Art Battle.

have had 6 for this event season and we hope to be asked to host the Provincials again.

Heidi & Mike: Last year at this time we were thinking about ways that we could raise money for Nuit Blanche Red Deer - our one day open air Art Festival that is held close to the end of September. It can be tough to run events and there are usually fairly limited budgets to work with, our goal was to be able to have the funds to showcase and support artists on a big scale. We happened to luck into finding out that Art Battle was seeking local partners - we stumbled across a Facebook ad featuring ‘National Art Battle Day’ where the concept was to throw as many Art Battles as possible across the country on one weekend. Our first Art Battle was one of 19 held in early May 2014.

COMPOSE: How has it evolved since the first Art Battle; between the public’s response and the amount of artists you have applying?

COMPOSE: How many battles has Red Deer hosted? Heidi & Mike: On February 20th we will have hosted our 5th Art Battle in Red Deer. There was one Art Battle before we started doing them that a local charity had organized. This was actually where we were first introduced to it.

Heidi & Mike: Our first Art Battle had quite a bit of momentum, people were super stoked to have this new experience happening. It’s been gaining traction ever since. Typically we scramble for one or two artists the week before the event. For the first time, a month before our Feb 20th Battle, we have more than 12 applications come in, and have had to create a waiting list of sorts, in the event that one of the 12 can’t make it. In regards to public response; Our attendance has been slowly climbing. We have limited capacity at The Scott Block, a venue we feel is well suited to the experience we’re trying to create, and we are approaching capacity each time. What we have noticed is that the number of pre-sale tickets has increased. Red Deer is notoriously a last minute town. COMPOSE: What has been the key to Art Battles success?

COMPOSE: How many more can we expect for 2015? Heidi & Mike: We started this all off with the idea of fundraising towards Nuit Blanche. A one off event to raise funds. It was Art Battle that approached us to host more event. However, not all our Art Battles have been profitable, some have barely broken even.

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Heidi & Mike: In this ‘season’, we’ve committed to doing 4 battles that would lead up to the provincial finals. In all likelihood, we will also participate in Art Battle Day again. By the time summer hits - we will

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“RED DEER HAS SOME SERIOUS TALENT” At the end of the day, we are passionate about Art and love what we are doing. In our minds we think the key to any successful event is sharing our passion and creating a collective community to promote what is happening. Through this we hope that the momentum spreads organically and others want to be a part of the night. For those that come, we have a high return rate. Meaning our audience is fully engaged from moment the first brush hits a canvas. We work with local DJ’s to keep the crowd bouncing while we’re counting votes or setting up another round. The support of the local public and business community has helped us immensely as well. We also have a sponsorship agreement with Kraze 101.3, so we get great coverage on the radio as well as we have had some of their on air personality’s stepping in to emcee. This is also the sixth year for Art Battle as a whole, we’re privy to a vast wealth of experience and organizational insight that help to make the whole process run smoothly.

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COMPOSE: Where does the money from the auctioning go towards? Does any go back to the artist?

Heidi & Mike: Our artists receive 50% of the Art Battle auction proceeds, there has only been 1 out of 64 paintings so far that hasn’t sold. We’ve had some paintings go for just under $500. Our artists are usually pretty stoked to walk away with a little cash in their pockets after a fun night out. COMPOSE: How does an artist join?

Heidi & Mike: Artists must submit an application to ArtBattle.ca - we receive an email once they’ve applied with their info and a small selection of their work. At that point it’s in our hands. Up until recently we didn’t have to make any hard decisions on selecting artists, we always had the exact amount. As the popularity grows, and more applications come in, we’re put into the situation where we have to let people down. We have a few things to take into consideration when selecting and it is not an easy thing to do. COMPOSE: Tell me about some of the people you’ve met while organizing Art Battle. Heidi & Mike: It’s incredible how many talented artists are in Red Deer/Central Alberta. Every time we do a new event we meet more people involved with, and interested in, the local arts community. Through organizing the local Art Battles, we’ve managed to connect with some great people that we have been able to include and feature in some of our other events. COMPOSE: It’s great to see people help take the local art scene to the next level and giving young/old artists alike a whole new platform of exposure. What sorts of trends do you see within the local art scene? Heidi & Mike: We are excited to be able to compliment some of the other fantastic initiatives that are happening in and around Red Deer. Red Deer has

some serious talent. People definitely love bright abstract pieces we’ve noticed. We’re always a little surprised by what might light the room up on any given night. No two winning pieces have ever been close to being like one another. We are noticing a lot more buzz around the local scene however, and more business wanting to display local art work in their establishments or showrooms. We’ve heard talk of a few independent art shows that are being planned and if in any way we’ve inspired people to throw these events, we’re truly humbled.

COMPOSE: Anything else you would like to say or touch on? A few of things: We have an AMAZING Team (Mike, Heidi, Desiree, Luke, Michelle, Joe, Landon, Becky) who are so incredibly engaged to this local scene and passionate about seeing it grow. Without each one of them, we just wouldn’t be able to put on our Art Battles, or effectively organize and run Nuit Blanche Red Deer. We’ve also had the pleasure of working with some great local businesses to help promote our events as well; Muse Clothing, A Little Piece of U, Synthetic Productions, Kraze 101.3, and the Downtown Business Association. Lastly, we are in the process of setting up a foundation called Art 4 Kids. This foundation will provide a form of “micro grant” to under-privileged children who are interested in developing their artistic skills and can’t afford the materials or training they require. A portion of the proceeds from our events will go towards this foundation.

“IF IN ANY WAY WE HAVE GIVEN AN ARIST CONFIDENCE TO SHARE THEIR WORK WITH OTHERS, WE FEEL IMMENSE GRATIFICACOMPOSE: How do you TION” think Art Battle has helped evolve the local arts scene?

Follow them on facebook @ /nuitblanchereddeer

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Heidi & Mike: That’s a tough question. While we think that we’re drawing more attention to the local organically. If in any way we have given an artist the confidence to share their work with others, we feel immense gratification. Also, if in any way we are encouraging the public, who wouldn’t typically attend an event like this, to attend one of our events, that’s a big win in our minds.

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